“I’ve heard guys saying that before, but I don’t really play video games,” Ellington said with a laugh after the Heat’s 107-89 win over the Magic. “So I don’t know exactly know what that means. But I’m guessing it’s a good compliment. So I appreciate that.”

Ellington’s 3-point shooting this season sure looks like it’s the result of a cheat code from a gamer. He scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range in Miami’s win over Orlando, including four made threes in the fourth quarter.

“Very few guys could do that, what he does, be that ignitable,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Ellington. “And the level of difficulty on his threes, coming off full speed, stop on a dime and shoot it under the heaviest of duress and pressure and contest — he makes it look easy. But those are thousands and thousands of reps doing that full speed, with imaginary defense. He creates actions for us.”

Tuesday’s performance is just a continuation of a pretty hot stretch for the Heat’s sharpshooter. Ellington has made 17 3-pointers over his last three games, a personal best for any three-game span in his career.

But don’t think of this as a hot steak. Ellington says this is the player he is now.

“You say stretch, I feel like I put a lot of work in this offseason,” said Ellington, who is making $6.3 million this season before becoming a free agent this upcoming summer. “I don’t think this is a stretch. I think I’m capable of making more shots now, tougher shots. I was here over the summer preparing for this, so I don’t look at it as a stretch. I feel like this is who I am now.”

Through the Heat’s first 34 games, it’s pretty hard to disprove that. Ellington entered Wednesday ranked fourth in the league in 3-pointers made with 97, behind only Houston’s Eric Gordon and James Harden, and Golden State’s Klay Thompson.

Those 97 made 3-pointers for Ellington are the second most by a Heat player through the team’s first 34 games of a season. Only Damon Jones made more threes in the Heat’s first 34 games, when he knocked down 98 in the 2004-05 season.

Ellington is averaging 10.1 points and shooting a career-best 43.3 percent from 3-point range in 34 games this season. Among those averaging five or more 3-point shot attempts per game, his 3-point shooting percentage ranks seventh-best in the league.

Ellington is also averaging a career-high 6.6 shot attempts from beyond the arc. He credits the increased looks with an adjustment he made in the middle of last season to remove “a little tiny bit of a hitch” in his shot that allows him to have a quicker release.

“I didn’t have that before,” Ellington said of his fast release, which allows him to get 3-pointers off even with defenses playing him tighter than ever. “That’s something I really worked on with [Heat shooting coach] Rob Fodor. That’s something that he really brought to my attention and he helped me change in my shot. He worked on that with me just a little bit and I put it in immediately. I feel so much better with it and I get so many more looks.”

While Ellington may make it look like a cheat code, it’s not. It’s the result of a lot of time in the gym.

“I had a whole offseason to work at it and continue to work at it and work at it,” Ellington said of his shooting stroke. “Here we are.”